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Meet the Ambassador Wolves!
To read the physical and behavioral observations of the wolves,
click on a wolf image below.
For more information on wolf pup development and our other ambassador
wolves, watch extended wolf videos on the International Wolf
Center's
YouTube Channel and enjoy a close-up of wolf behavior on our
Wolf Watch Cams.
Whether you would like to support the socialization process of our newest
pups, aid in the continued care of our ambassador wolves or honor any of the
"Gone But Not Forgotten" ambassador wolves, please consider a gift to the
Wolf Care Fund. This fund goes directly to the continued care
of current and future wolf pack mates.
Exhibit Pack
Description
The Exhibit Pack refers to the wolves in the main enclosure. Members of the pack may vary as wolves age and new wolf pups are socialized and added to the Exhibit. In Fall of 2012, Exhibit Pack consisted of Aidan and Denali, two northwestern subspecies, born on April 27, 2008 and Luna and Boltz, believed to be great plains subspecies born in March 2012.
Whether you would like to support the socialization process of our newest pups, aid in the continued care of our ambassador wolves or honor any of the "Gone But Not Forgotten" ambassador wolves, please consider a gift to the Wolf Care Fund. This fund goes directly to the continued care of current and future wolf pack mates.
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Retired Pack
Description
The Retired Pack has been in existence since 2002, when the 1993 litter was systematically tested for weakness by the arctics, Shadow and Malik. This is a natural process that occurs in the wild as well as in captivity. In the wild, wolves have the freedom to leave their pack or disperse. In captivity, managers have to make that decision for the wolves. The original Retired Pack of MacKenzie, Lakota and Lucas have all passed on, and we are in the formation of the next generation of retirees. In November of 2009, Malik was experiencing some intense aggression from the pack, and rather than risk an injury, the decision was made to move him into retirement. In June, 2010, Shadow was retired, not due to aggression, but due to aging conditions that made it difficult for him to interact with the younger wolves. This was a proactive move to avoid the potential for Shadow, as the dominant wolf, to be deposed by the younger wolves. Retirement is a calmer existence, with no direct public viewing, except by webcam and remote video feed into the Center.
Grizzer was removed from the Exhibit Pack in March 2011 after the tragic loss of his littermate, Maya and his loss of confidence in dealing with the younger Exhibit Pack members. While he is currently retired from the Exhibit, he is not living with the other Retired Pack members until there is a determination on pack cohesiveness. We continue to have weekly postings in the Wolf Logs and Grizzer is always included on the weekly YouTube videos.
For those of you who would like to honor or help support the Retired Wolves, Malik, Shadow, Grizzer or any of the Ambassador Wolves, please consider
a gift to the Wolf Care Fund in their honor. This
fund goes directly to the continued care of current and future wolf pack mates.
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Gone But Not Forgotten
Kiana
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Lakota
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Lucas
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MacKenzie
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Maya
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Nyssa
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Description
The Gone But Not Forgotten wolves are those wolves that were International Wolf Center ambassador wolves but have since passed away. This section serves as a reminder of all the great educational opportunities these wolves provided during their lives and the lesson's we learn. The instincts that make a wolf successful in the wild, such as strong social bonding with pack members, maintenance of defined rank order and ability to distinguish vulnerability in prey animals as well as fellow pack mates, makes a wolf a challenge in a captive environment.
The challenge is indeed great but we are up to it and more committed than ever to provide the best possible care of our wolves.
For those of you who would like to honor our "Gone But Not Forgotten" ambassador wolves, please consider a gift to the Wolf Care Fund in their memory. This fund goes directly to the continued care of current and future wolf pack mates.
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